Meltybrains? – ‘The Vine’

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If you’ve seen Dublin five-piece Meltybrains? live in and around the past year, you might have found yourselves encouraged into joining a little dance routine during one particularly upbeat, sunshine-tinged song (sometimes, naturally, resulting in a conga line). That song is ‘The Vine’, and it’s finally been recorded (boasting production from none other than the formidable Kwes) and constitutes as entirely necessary listening to get your weekend off to a good start.

Get ready for lush, colourful melodies that spring to life and bring to mind magical beaches full of soaring tropical birds (or, if not birds, maybe five Irish guys trying to be a boyband). There are superbly lithe undercurrents of Afrobeat-esque rhythms too, that evoke that uplifting aura of something a little bit otherworldly. Altogether it’s sugary sweet and glorious – think endless cans of Lilt on a sunny day (without that being sickening) – and while it nods to Dancehall it retains a certain eccentricity that is inherently a Melty trait. Nialler9 posited that the track “could feature on a Disney soundtrack” and that’s kind of spot on – ‘The Vine’ is a song that seems to revel in its cartoony, uninhibited euphoria, and that’s what makes it so wonderfully moreish.

In the band’s words:

“The Vine is a song about our old music lecturer, Paddy Devine, who taught us harmony and counterpoint back when we were in college. Paddy was the nicest lecturer we ever had, he was big into his rudiments and was very strict, but he was the most down to earth person you could ever meet. We were his very last class before he retired and he often took us out to drink wine with him.

We’ll always remember him in a good light, hence the lyrics: ‘It’s glad to define the fine line and rudiments, and the forgotten necessity of the vine.’

Although the lyrics are about him, the musical aspects of the song go against most of what he taught.”

It’s officially out on August 1, and there will doubtless be an equally fantastical video accompaniment but, for now, enjoy: